Lunch Money

Full review with images can be viewed on The Gamer Nerd Dot ComGrowing up I've had a few sketchy moments on the playground during recess. That stereotypical "gimme your lunch money!" interaction never happened to me (we all had free lunch growing up in the Cleveland Public School system), but I've definitely had more than my fair share of scuffles. Lunch Money is a game that simulates that unforgettable experience of a playground brawl.A fight simulating card game? Really!? Yes, and Atlas Games does a good job of it. Lunch Money is a game for two or more players, I find that it plays best with at least three people --but a one on one brawl is just as fun, every game ends that way. The Objective of the game is to take your opponents' life counters down from 15 to 0. A player who runs out of counters is unconscious and out of the game. The last player standing wins!The game play is a standard shuffle up and deal. Each player gets 5 cards and within their hand they have options to defend, attack or heal themselves. A typical turn revolves around choosing another player to attack, pairing cards into combos or meeting play requirements (some cards you have to have a grab card to play or some defense cards can only defend certain types of attacks) and the player you chose figuring out the best way to defend themselves. There are a wide range of basic attack cards, defense cards, weapon cards, and specialty cards. Some of my favorites: "Humiliation" can be played at any time, at any point, on any player's turn to humiliate the player and ruin their strategy. The concept behind the card is that the player describes a sequence of events that will humiliate to the point that they are so ashamed that whatever they were trying to do fails. There's also "Pimp Slap", "Poke in the Eye", "Spinning Backfist", weapons like "Chain", "Pipe", "Knife", and "Hammer".The greatest draw of this game is the artwork and witty card types and phrases. For example, the flavor text on "Humiliation" reads "Jesus hates you; and so do I". Another great one is "Chain", it reads "What's black and blue and red all over? You are, silly!". The images on the cards are eerie (photos by Andrew Yates). A little girl posed in threatening positions, ready to pounce on a would be defender. The photos are artistically shot, often out of focus in strategic areas to add effect, high contrast with dense blacks and washed out highlights. The mood is truly set through the imagery on the cards.Lunch Money won the Origins Award for Best Card Game of 1996 (tied with three other games). Its a great game for non-gamers and strategic enough for hardcore players. One thing I don't normally embrace with tabletop gaming is household rules, Lunch Money lends itself to creating household rules that can enhance the experience. Table talk is one of the most enjoyable parts of this game, its even in the rule book--"Colorful banter is an important part of Lunch Money, so dont be afraid to get into the game by describing in vivid detail the insults you perform upon your opponents. Don't be surprised by the imaginative things they do to you in return, and remember:its just a game."

Haven’t been able to grab this game in such a long time and it’s exactly what I remembered to be, very awesome!

Lunch Money is an elimination-style card game designed by C.E. Wiedman and released in 1996 by Atlas Games.The art on the cards are dark, somewhat Gothic photographic images by Andrew Yates, usually accompanied by humorous quotes pertaining to the card's name. In the game, players control a character (originally all females) with fifteen "health" points, usually represented by pennies or whatever you can find lying around, and draw a hand of five cards. The players take turns playing cards to "attack" other players, who try to block, dodge, and counterattack the attacker. When the defender is done responding, he or she takes any applicable damage, and both players then redraw their hands to five cards, passing the turn to the next player. When a player loses her health points she passes out. The last one "conscious" wins the game.The game's name derives from its theme, that of children involved in a schoolyard fight. There is also a small expansion set called Sticks and Stones, and a larger sequel/expansion called Beer Money.If you want to beat up your friends via card play, try Lunch Money, its fun, its funny, and its addictive

Excellent game, easy to learn and quick gameplay.I highly recommend if you want some quick fun. :)

Have loved Lunch Money ever since it released. I continually buy extra copies of this great game to use as giveaways on my gaming podcast and to get more friends interested in playing. It's a lot of fun and trash talking is highly encouraged. You even get to be creative and add a bit of story telling to the gameplay with the use of the "describe how you humiliate you enemy" type of cards.Great fun!

Classic game that has been out of print for around 8 years and is still factory sealed. Definitely recommend buying if you ever played it before

I first got this game while I was in high school about a decade ago. My older brother introduced me to it and at the time I think maybe my poor innocent mind wasn't ready yet lol. I was recently reminded of it while playing Apples to Apples (end of the World Party in Dec haha.) and needed to have it again. I think the stranger you are, and more imagination you have the more fun this game becomes. I recommend having more than 3 people, just seems better that way. When I was explaining to my 58 year old mother how to play I was certain she'd think I was nuts, not because of the overall theme but because its a "fighting" game. But no, she got crack addicted and had my other sister order her a set, like literally the next day. This is a must have! Haha.

A Fist fight in a card game. My family, friends and I love this game. We often use this as our go-to game for large gatherings. I own all the expansions too. We often get requests to bring this with us. I can't tell you how many times we get "Do you still have that game?"